The Royal Ascot Racing Carnival:

Location: Ascot (UK)

Total Prize: approx, £4,000,000 over 5 days.

Official Website: http://www.ascot.co.uk

When: Third week in June.

Day 1: King's Stand, Queen Anne, St James's Palace.
Day 2: Prince of Wales Stakes.
Day 3: Ascot Gold Cup.
Day 4: Coronation Stakes.
Day 5: Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

Track: Turf, right handed.

Track Bias: The long straight runs of the Ascot track means that no discernable bias applies and starting positions are of little importance, although it is hard to lead all the way. On pace runners with a good turn of foot can overtake the leaders in the final straight.

History: Ascot racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711 and until 1945 the only racing that took place there was the four day Royal Meeting. Since then then fixtures have been expanded to include 9 of the 32 Group 1 races in England, making it one of the premier courses in the world.

The first day of the Royal Meeting with three Group 1 races is held on the third Tuesday in June. At 2.00pm on each day, the Royal Procession makes its way from the Golden Gates to the Parade Ring. The first of six races is at 2.35pm and the last at 5.35pm, after which racegoers are encouraged to head to the bandstand to sing along to some popular songs.

The Royal Meeting at Ascot gained the addition of another day of racing on Saturday in 2002, to allow those racegoers who were unable to attend during the week to experience one of the world's best race meetings.

The Races: 

Kings Stand Stakes - first leg of the Global Sprint Challenge. In 2012, this race was won by the champion Frankel.

Prince of Wales Stakes - the largest purse with a  £400,000 prize.
Ascot Gold Cup - a true test for stayers over two miles and four furlongs (4000m). In 2012 the Godolphin runners Colour Vision and Opinion Poll ran the Quinella.
Coronation Stakes & King Edward VII Stakes - the Coronation Stakes is for Europe's leading 3yo fillies and the King Edward VII for colts is known as the 'Ascot Derby'.

Diamond Jubilee Stakes - the second British leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, renamed from the Golden Jubilee to mark the milestone of Her Majesty The Queen.  International interest is always high with horses of the calibre of Australia's Black Caviar among the nominations.

Betting at Royal Ascot including the Ascot Gold Cup, King Stand Stakes & Diamond Jubilee Stakes is available online at Sportsbet.com.au.